


Simple Things

by MistressKat



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Loyalty, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 22:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13258062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressKat/pseuds/MistressKat
Summary: One moment Newt is eating his breakfast and reviewing his notes, the next there is a knock on the hatch, a light little three-by-three-by-three pattern followed by a familiar voice calling "Hello? Are you in? Only, it's raining and I'm not overtly fond of that weather anymore."





	Simple Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alley_Skywalker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alley_Skywalker/gifts).



> Written as a fandom_stocking gift for Alley_Skywalker. I hope this hits your fic likes for friendship and loyalty...

Newt is an ocean away, deep in the Schwarzwald and practicing both his German and his diplomatic skills with a local werewolf pack, when Jacob shows up.   
  
One moment Newt is eating his breakfast and reviewing his notes, the next there is a knock on the hatch, a light little three-by-three-by-three pattern followed by a familiar voice calling "Hello? Are you in? Only, it's raining and I'm not overtly fond of that weather anymore."  
  
Newt flicks his wand, unlocking the entrance, and just like that Jacob is standing in the middle of his work room/living space, dripping water and beaming from ear to ear.   
  
"What?" Newt says, shaking his head like he's trying to dislodge a bowtruckle, but nothing falls out. "I don't understand."  
  
This is, and isn't unusual. Newt understands many things very well, sometimes so well that others find it off-putting, but people – people showing up when they're supposed to be in another country and not even remember him anymore – is not one of his strong suits.   
  
"Ah, well," Jacob says, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Turns out whatever amnesia spell you guys cooked up, it wasn't strong enough for someone with... prolonged exposure."   
  
And... That does make sense. Even if it only explains about the quarter of the situation.   
  
"Hey, is that porridge?" Jacob asks, gesturing at the pot still steaming by the fireplace. "Can I eat some? Without, you know, growing a tail or something?"  
  
Newt nods mutely and slowly reaches for his own bowl.   
  
Over breakfast, the story stumbles out, somewhat non-linear and incomplete but enough that Newt can get a general gist of things. After the memory charm started to fade – and really, Newt should've thought of that sooner because of course a standard spell like that wouldn't work for someone who'd spent that long within the magical world – the Goldstein sisters were there to help Jacob reacclimatise. Re-reacclimatise?   
  
"Tina and Queenie made sure I didn't go mad," Jacob puts it bluntly. "And they told me where you'd likely be."  
  
"But how did you find me... here?" Newt spreads his hands, encompassing the sprawling forest outside, the whole country beyond it.   
  
Jacob shrugs, and then leans closer. " _Das ist nicht mein erstes Mal in Deutschland_ ," he whispers, winking.   
  
Newt isn't so good at interpreting emotions when the only thing he has to go on is someone's face, but he thinks this is Jacob acting jolly when he's anything but. It is, however, a tactic that he's familiar from the inside so to speak so recognising when to leave well enough alone is easy.   
  
"Alright. Actually..." Newt brightens up. "That could come in handy! Do you know how to say ' _neutral zone means no maiming_ ' in German?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
It takes Newt a couple of weeks to realise that there is still one more question niggling at the back of his mind. By that time they've relocated to the Alps and are nursing an orphaned Yeti despite the fact that she's a teenager who does not take kindly to being babysat by wizard know-it-alls. Or at least that's what Jacob tells him the Yeti kid called them in her halting Swiss German, although Newt suspects it wasn't as polite as all that.   
  
Still, the scenery is kind of breath-taking and Newt finds the biting cold invigorating. Jacob makes a lot of hot chocolate.   
  
"Jacob," Newt says one morning, watching the sun turn the snow into diamonds. He wonders if Niffler would be fooled and just drive itself crazy trying to hoard a drift after drift. He wonders if he's petty enough to test it. In the name of scientific research of course.   
  
"What is it?" Jacob pushes a steaming mug into his hands and then tuts disapprovingly at Newt's open collar, tugging it closed and wrapping the scarf around his neck securely for good measure.   
  
It doesn't make Newt want to pull away and that's unusual enough to warrant closer scrutiny at some later time. Perhaps even a chart.   
  
"Why did you come all this way to find me?" Newt asks, sipping at his cocoa. It's good, subtly spicy and deeply warming. Jacob's skills with baked goods have turned out to be transferrable to anything edible, much to Newt's enjoyment.   
  
Jacob huffs a laugh. "Because I like you," he says plainly. And Newt knows what's coming next because Jacob is echoing his own words back to him. "Because you're my friend." Jacob's eyes are kind and clear, and wrinkled little at the corners as he smiles at Newt, clinking their mugs together.   
  
And maybe it is as simple as that. Newt thinks that with Jacob, it will be.


End file.
